Abraham Family Honors Their Brave Warrior

The friends and family of Meghan Abraham are giving back to children fighting cancer. October 17, 2018 would have marked the fifth birthday of Meghan’s son Jacob, who bravely faced treatments for childhood cancer (rhabdomyosarcoma) before he succumbed to the disease in August of 2016.

In honor of Jacob’s fifth birthday, Meghan decided to ask her loved ones to donate examples of Jacob’s favorite toys to the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF), an Orland Park-based non-profit organization that comforts children and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing toys from a treasure chest. Her request resulted in collecting an impressive 3,450 coloring books along with crayons, playdough and $300 in gift cards to benefit young kids just like Jacob who are currently fighting cancer.

Meghan recalls that Jacob loved his visits to the Treasure Chest at Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn. “The Treasure Chest helped Jacob get through painful visits while undergoing treatment for cancer,” said Meghan. “He would play for hours with playdough, coloring books and crayons. He enjoyed the smaller toys and never picked a large toy out of the Treasure Chest.”

“We will be forever grateful to Meghan and her friends and family,” said an appreciative Colleen Kisel, Founder of the Treasure Chest Foundation. “Our hearts ache over the thought of what Meghan and her family members had to endure and yet we are thankful for their love and support.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 13,300 young cancer patients enduring 20,000 clinic visits each month in 19 states across the nation. Nowhere else in the nation does such a program exist. Colleen Kisel founded the organization in 1996 after her then seven-year-old son Martin had been diagnosed with leukemia in 1993. Colleen discovered that giving her son a toy after each procedure provided a calming distraction from his pain, noting that when children are diagnosed with cancer their world soon becomes filled with doctors, nurses, chemotherapy drugs, surgeries and seemingly endless painful procedures. Martin celebrated his 25th anniversary of remission from the disease in March.

If you would like further information about the Treasure Chest Foundation, please contact Colleen Kisel at 708-687-TOYS (8697) or visit the Foundation’s web site at www.treasurechest.org.